We are very excited to have the writer and architect Suad Amiry, for the next installment of the Bisan Lecture Series, on Wednesday September 11th, at 7PM Palestine time. She will take us on a journey of discovery of the city of Jaffa through her novel: “Mother of Strangers”.
We are very excited to have the writer and architect Suad Amiry, for the next installment of the Bisan Lecture Series, on Wednesday September 11th, at 7PM Palestine time. She will take us on a journey of discovery of the city of Jaffa through her novel: “Mother of Strangers“.
Register here to get the Zoom link!
Title: Jaffa: “Mother of Strangers”
Abstract: The events of the novel “Mother of Strangers” by Suad Amiry take place between 1947 and 1951. Through a love story between two teenagers, Subhi and Shams, they describe the city of Jaffa before the Nakba, a bustling cosmopolitan city with diverse communities living peacefully together, home to a rich cultural life and a thriving industry of the famous Jaffa oranges.
The second part of the novel describes the effect of the 1948 Nakba on the lives of the two lovers, Subhi and Shams, but also the destruction and the depopulation of Jaffa as a result of the three-day vicious attack by the Jewish militia on the city and the displacement of Jaffa’s hundred thousand inhabitants.
In the presentation of her book, Suad Amiry, will follow a hakawati style: she will take the audience on a journey through the streets, the markets, the bayarat (i.e., the orange groves) of Jaffa, as well as Jaffa’s famous Nabi Rubin festival.
Short Biography: Suad Amiry is a Palestinian writer and an architect who lives in Ramallah. She is the author of numerous, architectural, fictional and non-fictional books. Amiry is the author of the acclaimed memoir, “Sharon and My Mother-in-Law”, which has been translated into 20 languages and received Italy’s renowned literary Award: Viareggio (2004). She is the author of numerous non-fictional books including: “Menopausal Palestine”, “Nothing to Lose But Your Life: an 18 hour Journey with Murad”, “Golda Slept Here”, and “My Damascus”. Amiry’s latest novel is “Mother of Strangers”. Amiry is the founder of RIWAQ: Centre of Architectural Conservation in Ramallah Palestine. She and her organization won the prestigious Aga Khan Award of architecture.
Register here! You can find the list of previous and upcoming lectures on our website.
The Bisan lecture on May 8th was given by prof. Khaled Fahmy (Tufts University). Prof. Fahmy is an eminent scholar of modern Egyptian history, arguably the most prominent among those who have studied the Egyptian state’s institutions, in particular its army and associated branches, since the Khedivate of Muhammad Ali in the early 1800s. In a fascinating and detailed account of the 1967-1970 Egyptian-Israeli War of Attrition, prof. Fahmy explained how Egypt, under the leadership of the late Gamal Abdel Nasser, recovered from the devastating defeat of its army in June 1967 to reclaim the initiative, and then to engage Israel’s armed forces in a grinding standstill in preparation for the October 1973 War. He described how the Egyptians managed to rebuild their shattered army in record time; more specifically, how the Egyptian high command, while realizing that they could not liberate Sinai in one decisive battle, succeeded in neutralizing Israel’s air superiority. The Egyptians did this by deploying a complex network of surface-to-air missile batteries (SAM) on the western banks of the Suez Canal. It was this successful deployment of SAM batteries that enabled the Egyptian army to cross the Canal and destroy the elaborate series of fortifications (the so-called Bar-Lev Line), which was considered impregnable, on October 6, 1973. You can download the notes of Khaled Fahmy’s lecture here.
This lecture is sponsored by the Bisan Center for Research and Development and Scientists for Palestine.
In light of the urgent need to assist the people of Gaza, who are currently experiencing immeasurable loss of life and widespread devastation, please read this humanitarian aid appeal from ANERA, forwarded to us by a friend of BLS, Dr. Sara Roy of Harvard University. Hoping to see many of you at this webinar, we send you our best regards.
The Bisan Lecture Series Steering Committee
BLS Statement of purpose In concert with Scientists for Palestine and the Bisan Center for Research and Development, and in keeping with their joint commitment to full integration of Palestine in the global community of learning, the Bisan Lecture Series sponsors discourses on subjects of cultural, scientific, and societal importance by leading research experts and public intellectuals of varied heritage and viewpoint. The interactive webinars are free and open to the public, and recordings of each will be posted soon afterward.